Spurs' schedule finally becomes favorable

Published 10:05 pm, Saturday, February 23, 2013

When the Spurs land back in San Antonio after tonight's game in Phoenix, they will be atop the Western Conference standings no matter what happens against the Suns, and by at least two games over the defending conference champion Thunder.

It is a position not even the most optimistic of them could have imagined when the season began, not with 34 road games in the first 58.

Now comes the payback for what Gregg Popovich called the toughest early schedule he has seen in 16-plus seasons as head coach. Seventeen of the remaining 24 games will be played at the AT&T Center, where the Spurs have the league's best record, 22-2.

Sports Channel

It is an opportunity to pad their lead enough to simplify the decisions Popovich will make about limiting the workload of key players in the final weeks.

It is also the reason March can determine if they optimally position themselves for the playoffs.

Thirteen of the team's 15 games in March are at the AT&T Center, including the first six. Of those six, only two, the Bulls and Thunder, are against teams currently in the playoff picture. When they play the Thunder on March 11, the Spurs will have had two off days to ready themselves for a game against a rival playing its fourth game in five nights.

Win that one, and the Spurs can assure themselves no worse than a tie in the season series. It may be what allows Popovich to announce, immediately after his team's April 4 home game against the Magic, he is leaving a few players behind in San Antonio while the rest fly off to a fourth game in five nights in OKC.

Won't David Stern have to swallow hard and allow Popovich to use his players as he sees fit so close to the playoffs?

Popovich has made it clear there is nothing more important than getting to April 18 with a completely healthy roster that is energized for a run he hopes will go deep into June.

“Health and energy are important for every team,” he said as the longest road trip of the season neared its end. “We're probably more paranoid about it for a variety of reasons, but everyone will be watching closely to see they're in maximum position, as far as health is concerned, for sure.”

Get through March with a big enough lead in the West, and April can be a time to make certain the Spurs are healthy for the games that truly matter. Then, if they should emerge from the Western tournament and make it to another Finals, they can send a thank-you note to Matt Winnick, the NBA's director of game operations and scheduling.

Spurs fans were cursing Winnick as they watched their team endure that brutal early schedule, including the six-game Eastern swing in November that ended with the $250,000 fine for sending Duncan, Parker and Ginobili home from Orlando to rest up for a home game against the Grizzlies instead of having them play at Miami.

It never bothered Winnick, who likes to tell a story about apologizing to former Pacers GM Larry Bird when circumstances once left Bird's team with an early schedule not unlike San Antonio faced this season.

“Will we end up with 41 at home and 41 away?” Bird told Winnick then.

“Of course,” Winnick replied.

“Then I ain't got a problem,” Bird said.

For the Spurs, 41 and 41 has added up to 13 home games in March that can allow them to ease through April in good shape for the playoffs.